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Synphora completes equity financing and William Gunnarsson joins the Board

October 24, 2011 - STOCKHOLM, Sweden. Synphora AB announced today that it has successfully completed an equity issue to fund the further development of its novel treatments for Menière’s disease and noise-induced tinnitus. There is currently no effective treatment for neither of these diseases.

William Gunnarsson representing BWG Holding, the lead investor in this financing round, will also join the Board of Directors of the Company.

We are pleased to have William Gunnarsson join our Board”, said Fredrik Henell, CEO of Synphora AB. “William will add tremendous value to our Company. His experience gained as founder and CEO of Orphan Europe will be readily applicable to all dimensions, from development to commercialization, of our projects addressing significant unmet medical needs in the area of diseases of the inner ear.”

“I have seen the suffering of Menière’s disease at a close distance. It is a privilege to make a contribution to an area which until now has gone largely unnoticed by the pharma industry”, said William Gunnarsson. “I look forward to work with the Synphora team, and in particular Johan Stjernschantz, who has a successful track record in drug development. The biological rationale of draining the inner ear fluid as a treatment for Menière’s disease is indeed compelling”.

William Gunnarsson started his pharmaceutical career with Bristol-Myers where he held positions of increasing responsibility. In 1983 he was appointed he General Manager of the Scandinavian Pharmaceutical Division of the Company. In 1988 he became the President of Nobel Pharma, Ltd., Japan. In 1990 he moved to France where he founded Orphan Europe, a pharmaceutical company specializing in rare diseases. He served as the Company’s CEO until 2008 when it was successfully sold to Recordati S.p.A., Italy and on whose Board he served while Orphan Europe was fully integrated into Recordati’s operations.

William currently serves on the Boards of several biotech companies where he holds important equity positions, including Axentua Pharmaceuticals AB , Premacure AB, Laccure AB, and Prostalund AB all in Sweden.

William graduated as an officer from the Royal Swedish Naval Academy in 1967 and earned a degree in economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden in 1973.

About Synphora

Synphora is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of pharmacological treatments for diseases of the inner ear, in particular

Menière’s disease

Noise-induced tinnitus

The Company is about to initiate a phase IIB clinical trial in Menière’s disease.

The current strategy is to build on the therapeutic principle of administrating a prostaglandin F2α receptor agonist to the eye. This treatment has been successfully established and is in worldwide clinical use for the treatment of glaucoma for the last 25 years.

Menière’s disease is typically associated with a retention of fluid in the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear. This is in analogy with glaucoma, where a buildup of intra-ocular fluid causes an elevation of intra-ocular pressure and as a consequence damage to the optic nerve. This is why Menière’s disease is often referred to as “glaucoma of the ear”.

There is a large body of experimental work suggesting that prostaglandin F2α receptor agonists are associated with a neuroprotective effect which is distinctly different and additional to their ability to lower the intra-ocular pressure by enhancing the drainage of fluid from the eye. This effect may work equally well for the treatment of noise-induced tinnitus.

October 16, 2013 - STOCKHOLM, Sweden. Synphora AB announced today that dosing has been initiated in a randomized, multicenter, double-blind Phase II/III study of latanoprost as a treatment for Menière’s disease. A total of 120 patients will be included in the trial.

October 24, 2011 - STOCKHOLM, Sweden. Synphora AB announced today that it has successfully completed an equity issue to fund the further development of its novel treatments for Menière’s disease and noise-induced tinnitus. There is currently no effective treatment for neither of these diseases.

William Gunnarsson representing BWG Holding, the lead investor in this financing round, will also join the Board of Directors of the Company.